In many types of cementitious articles, set gypsum (calcium sulfate dehydrate) is often a major constituent. For example, set gypsum is a major component of end products created by use of traditional plasters (e.g., plaster surfaced internal building walls), and also in faced gypsum board employed in drywall construction of interior walls and ceilings of buildings. Typically, such gypsum-containing cementitious products are made by preparing a mixture of calcined gypsum (calcium sulphate alpha or bet hemihydrate and/or calcium sulfate anhydrite), water, and other components, as desired, to form cementitious slurry.
Typically, a cementitious article such as wallboard or gypsum board is manufactured by uniformly dispersing calcined gypsum in water to form an aqueous calcined gypsum slurry. This slurry is typically produced in a continuous manner by inserting the calcined gypsum, water, and other additives into a mixer which contains any number of apparatuses for agitating the contents to form a uniform gypsum slurry. The slurry is directed toward and through a discharge outlet of the mixer and into a discharge conduit. A stream of slurry passes through the discharge conduit and out of a distribution mat supported by a forming table. As the slurry passes through the distribution mat and onto a conveyor belt, it is evenly distributed therethrough. The slurry then travels on the conveyor belt for further processing and/or to be formed as a final wallboard product. In some known systems, the system can include components that impart vibrational forces on the distribution mat to ensure the slurry does not get stuck or clogged. Depending on the construct of the system, however, repeated application of vibratory forces can damage the mechanical components and connections.